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TIL of Jennifer Keelan, an 8 year old girl with cerebral palsy who crawled up the steps of the Capitol building to tell Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act that had been stalled in committee. It was signed into law 4 months later.

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a8n4L TIL in 1983, a soviet military officer “saved the world” from a full-blown nuclear war by disobeying orders, after receiving a false alarm of missiles fired by the USA
mxQQM TIL Al Goldstein an American pornographer, In 1989, ran a full page ad in "Screw" offering $1 million for the assassination of the Ayatollah Khomeini, in response to Khomeini's fatwa against novelist Salman Rushdie for allegedly blaspheming Islam.
4pag TIL that traditional mexican cooking uses herbs that take the “flatulence” out of beans
R7n68 TIL of the Vela Incident, A nuclear explosion in the Indian ocean of unknown origin. The most widespread theory is that it was a joint Apartheid South African-Israeli nuclear test.
neReo TIL Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain), who was born 186 years ago on November 30th, was born two months early and was not expected to live. He ended up being one of three children in his family who survived to adulthood while four other of his siblings passed away.